


Giving Up

by Baknami



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Depression, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-05
Updated: 2015-10-05
Packaged: 2018-04-24 22:16:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4937338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baknami/pseuds/Baknami
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>what good was a time machine if you couldn't save the people you loved?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Giving Up

**Author's Note:**

> Basically I found the Reddit thread where everyone was contributing in putting up different endings and how they affect Sans' call to the Human and all I could think of was "How would it be if it was just one person without the internet who had to go through each and every ending systematically?" It was just a game, after all, and the person wanted to see everything the game had to offer. What could the harm be?
> 
> (Of course this isn't canon at all since Sans can't remember every timeline, just that there are different branches. Eh.)

Sometimes it just wasn't worth getting up in the morning. Sans had been feeling that for the past few days. ...Well, maybe more like weeks... He kind of stopped counting when the days blurred together the way they did. There were days he didn't even make it to his bed. He would just crash on the couch and lay face down on a pillow; if he weren't a skeleton he'd probably suffocate. It wasn't like he had the guts to keep up this charade. Guts. Hah. He should use that sometime.

...Jokes were probably the only thing that kept him going, because as much as Papyrus hated his heckling, it put a smile on his face and that was all he needed to see.

...but now... now... God, the kid came back again.

At first the Human came through and just killed every Boss Monster who stood in their way. It made a little sense; the Bosses were all dangerous and had tried to kill them. It was self defense. It was sad, and Sans just sort of died inside, but then... then...

The Human came back. Everything was back the way it was, Sans was so happy; his brother was...

The Human killed everyone *but* Mettaton. Why... Why would...

The Human came back. Perhaps this time...

...But no, the Human killed everyone but Alphys, and the lizard woman cried and screamed about revenge until she just sunk into a mire and curled into a ball of desolate rage and bitterness, and... well, Sans stopped caring at that point. The pain after losing his brother three times began desensitizing him. He was beginning to *not care* that his best friend in the world was gone. At least no one else could see the repeated murders, the constant death and redeath. ...It was probably the only thing that kept him sane.

And now the Human was back again. It was all normal again, as if nothing happened, again, for the fourth time, but Sans knew that they were just going to be *gracious enough* to let Undyne live. He tried to tell Papyrus, the third time, about what was going to happen, and despite being the only one who knew about his time travel, Sans' brother insisted that being better prepared meant he could keep it from happening.

But nothing changed. Nothing ever changed, no matter how hard Sans tried, no matter how prepared Papyrus was, no matter how much begging Sans gave to the Human. He tried and tried to go back and cause the timeline to split into some timey-wimey soupy whatever the hell, but nothing ever worked. It all turned out the same, every single time. ...He couldn't cause the timeline to change... but That Kid Could...

...He tried to think positively about this. After all, for a bright, shining moment, Sans considered the idea that next time, Papyrus would be the one to survive...

...Until The Human Restarted Everything And Killed Everyone But Toriel And He Would Lose His Brother Again And Again Until He Went Mad With Grief. Everything Was Wrong And Terrible And the World Hated Him And He Just Wanted To Lash Out And Scream, but...

...but it wouldn't do anything. nothing would change. he tried so many times, after the second restart. he went back in time and tried to kill that damned flower, hoping that maybe it would make the human stop their horrifying rampage, but it always came back. it always came back, it always. came. back. 

nothing changed. somehow, no matter how much time shenanigans he went through, nothing that could save his brother changed. what good was a time machine if you couldn't save the people you loved?

...sans had given up. there was just no point anymore.

“SANS!” ahhh, the sweet siren call of his brother; his dear beloved little brother who kept him grounded during all of this insanity. “SANS, DID YOU FALL ASLEEP ON THE COUCH AGAIN? WHY DON'T YOU WASH YOUR SHEETS FOR ONCE!?”

“it'll just get dirty again, so what's the point?” sans asked the pillow, still not moving an inch.

“THE POINT IS SO YOU DON'T RUIN OUR COUCH WITH YOUR DIRTY CLOTHES,” papyrus was screaming some sweet sultry words that were music to sans' ears. any small amount of time spent listening to him before his inevitable death was time well spent.

“i'll get around to it, the clothes need to be at their maximum rank before they can...”

“WAS THAT A PUN? ARE YOU SERIOUS!?” sans yawned and ended up with a mouth full of pillow. “I CANNOT EVEN BELIEVE THIS. YOU PUN EVEN WHEN YOU SLEEP!” the younger brother ended up grumbling all the way to the kitchen to make their morning spaghetti. sans couldn't stand the taste, but eating his brother's meal was always...

...always...

“SANS? IS SOMETHING THE MATTER?” the short, stubby skeleton turned and finally looked up at papyrus, who, surprisingly, actually looked worried. he even walked out of the kitchen to check up on sans again. “IS THERE SOME TIME SHENANIGANS YOU'RE WORKING ON?”

ah. papyrus was getting good at this. “nah, man, it's nothing. i'm just really tired.”

“YOU SLEPT FOR A TWELVE HOURS YESTERDAY! I BET YOU DIDN'T RECALIBRATE YOUR PUZZLES! YOU'RE JUST LAZY, THAT'S ALL!” yeah, that was true. “GET UP SO WE CAN...”

“papyrus, you know i love you, right?” he managed to take his brother's hand and squeeze the skeletal bones in his. “more than anything?”

that caused papyrus to cock a nonexistant eyebrow. “OF COURSE I DO. YOU'VE TOLD ME EVERYDAY FOR THREE MONTHS.” three months. so that's when he gave up trying to off that ugly little flower, at least, according to any non-time-travelers. it felt like an eternity ago; probably was. “SANS, IS SOMETHING WRONG? THERE ISN'T EVEN A WHOOPIE CUSHION IN YOUR HAND.”

“nah, bro, just...” sans winked, “feeling lachrybones.”

“AUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” papyrus raged into the kitchen to finish breakfast as sans stared at the ceiling and chuckled at his joke. that was a... a pretty lame one though, to be honest. he'd have to step up his game for the human. maybe they'd feel happier if sans was brighter and had funnier jokes. maybe then they'd stop this constant murder and death.

...how many times had he hoped for that same thing, and how many times had it not come to pass?

“ARE YOU GOING TO EAT ANYTHING?” papyrus asked; sans barely registered that enough time had passed that his brother finished breakfast. he turned to look at papyrus as he laid out a plate for sans. “HURRY UP AND EAT, I NEED TO CHECK ON MY SENTRY STATION.”

“you have fun, bro.” sans replied, still staring at the ceiling. papyrus scoffed and sailed out of the room, leaving sans sighing alone in the house. he didn't have to get up anytime soon; he'd just use his time machine and get himself to the entrance of the ruins, and then he could try again, futily, to get the human to not murder his wonderful little brother, his friends, to just leave them alone...

…

…

…

… … maybe gaster had the right idea...

**Author's Note:**

> ...I promise I have a happier story! I just... really like the idea of time travel and what sort of effect it would have on its travelers.


End file.
